Method of soil erosion control



June 12, 1951 J, R. BENSON 2,556,162

METHOD oF son. ERosIoN CONTROL Filed ot. 1v, 1947 Eig. .1.

Jf wfLL BENSON INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented June 12, 1951 UNITED attain STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD F SOIL ERSION CONTROL Jewell It. Benson, Denver, Colo., assigner to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Interior Application October i7, 1947, Serial No. 780,563

(Cl. (l1-36) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) 4 Claims.

sion control by means of a plurality of spaced `soil subject to fluid erosion is indicated by i9 having a dike il formed of liquid asphalt mixed with soil. These dikes may be formed by forcing,

Vunder pressure, a jet i2 of liquid asphalt from a nozzle I3 fed by a spray bar IG.

In Fig. 2 a section of a plurality of spaced dikes l Il is shown with loose soil I9 supporting plants l intermediate adjacent dikes while an assumed direction of the wind is indicated by an arrow it.

AI prefer to form my dikes from an initially plastic or cementitious material under high pressure through a suitable jet for forming in the uppermost strata of soil, a plurality of spaced relatively permanent dikes of surface soil combined with hardened plastic material.

My dikes are relatively impermeable to Water and therefore check the lateral flow of Water in the surface soil.

My novel vmethod utilizes standardized equipment in common use for spraying bituminous materials but substitutes a jet nozzle for the fan spray nozzles commonly used. My method is not confined to the use of bituminous materials but may utilize other initially fluid materials which harden upon cooling or exposure to the air.

'Ihe sizes of my dikes and the directions folloWed will vary greatly with local conditions, for example, on rolling land the dikes may follow contours of equal elevation and the spacing may vary inversely with the steepness of the slope of the soil.

While l' have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, itis to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made Without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all novelty inherent in my invention as broadly as possible in View of the prior art.

W hat l claim is:

l. A method of soil erosion control lwhich comprises forming in loose soil a plurality of spaced Wind and water resisting dikes by injecting an initially iluid plastic material into said soil along lines transverse to the direction of eroding fluid currents.

2. A method of controlling erosion of loose soil which comprises applying an initially iiuid plastic material by a high pressure jet along lines transverse to the prevailing direction of eroding uid currents, whereby erosion resisting dikes are formed by the combination of soil with said plastic materials.

A method oi soil erosion control which com prises jetting a uid cementation substance into said soil along lines transverse to the direction of eroding fluid currents whereby permanent protective dikes are formed.

4. rIhe herendescribed method of checking soil erosion which comprises subjecting loose soil to the action of a jet of initially fluid plastic material along a plurality oi spaced lines transverse to the direction of eroding iiuid currents to form with soil disturbed oy said jet a plurality of erosion resisting dikes.

JEINELL R. BENSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,507,868 Stubbs Sept. 9, 1924 1,905,176 Kieckhefer Apr. 25, 1933 1,938,028 Ingalls Dec 5i, 1933 OTHER REFERENCES Engineering News-Record, page 50 of Aug. 1'1, 1939. Issue 61-37. 

